The Red Rival - Leon Toros Returns
.]] 'The Red Rival - Leon Toros Returns' The Red Rival - Leon Toros Returns is episode 16 from the Zoids: New Century anime series, based on TOMY's Zoids model franchise. =Overview= The episode begins with Naomi battling in her Gunsniper, her opponent being some Backdraft Rev Raptors. While initially sucessful, her shots veer off-course and Polta manages to best her Zoid in close range combat. She is saved from defeat by the appearance of a red Blade Liger, piloted by the ex-Blitz team member, Leon Toros, who teams up with her. Later, The Blitz team are presented with a challenge from Naomi. They discuss the fact that they hadn't fought her for a long time and eventually accept. They are surprised that the battle has no limitations on arsenals, and decide to send Bit and Leena in. Harry shows up and offers to help, but is completely ignored. The Blitz team head off to the battlefield, knocking Harry out of the way as they go, and send out the Liger Zero and Gunsniper. They initially assume that Naomi was camping out at a good vantage point, and had recruited some novice to fight with her, but both of these end up to be false, ad Naomi reveals herself to Leena and Leon introduces himself and his Zoid, the red Blade Liger. Stunned by Leon's appearance, Naomi snaps the Blitz Team back into combat by taking shots at Leena. Bit proceeds to engage Leon in close range combat. Bit attempts to perform an attacking lunge at Leon, but his pounce is countered by an uppercut from Leon, who pins Bit. Bit manages to regain his footing but is dealt further damage as Leon uses his Liger's blades to parry Bit's Laser Claws. In the meantime, Leena's battle cools down, as Naomi disengages. Leena, believing Naomi to be out of ammunition, is promptly sniped and defeated, making the fight two on one. Naomi decides to keep it as a duel between Ligers and does not intervene. Bit continues to struggle against Leon, finding his attacks easily read. Leon proceeds to tell Bit that as a pilot, he is lacking in skill. Leon proceeds to narrate the trials and tribulations he went through after leaving the Blitz Team early in the series. He discovered he wasn't anywhere near as good a fighter as he thought he was, and left many shattered Zoids behind (including his Shield Liger). It was only when realised this, that he discovered the Red Blade Liger, the ultimate partner. Bit listens to Leon, and explains the flaw in his assessment. Bit's predictable charges weren't just his own, the Liger Zero itself wanted to face off against the Red Blade Liger. As they proceeded to clash, Leon continues to parry, only to find himself taking slight damage in the process. Despite only being a scratch, the fact that he was hit at all was obviously out of the ordinary. Before the battle could continue, Polta arrives to extract revenge for the Backdraft, and storms the battlefield with a squad of over thirty Rev Raptors. Leon charges and takes out many of them while Bit rearms with the Schneider. (He had refused to use the Schneider earlier against the Blade Liger on the basis that the Blade Liger was using its basic equipment, not upgrades). The two destroy all of Polta's men, while Naomi compensates for the Backdraft's magnetic poles and takes out Polta himself. In the end, the battle is cancelled due the Judge being incapacitated by the magnetic field, so Leon and Naomi leave without concluding their fight. =Characters= * Introduced character(s): NIL * Introduced opponent(s): NIL * Featured characters: Leon Toros * Featured teams: Blitz Team, Fluegel Team, Champ Team =Zoids= * Rev Raptor * Gunsniper * Blade Liger * Heldigunner * Dark Horn * Stealth Viper * Hover Cargo * Liger Zero * Gustav Trivia *As a homage to Zoids: Chaotic Century and Guardian Force, many of the scenes in this episode feature recycled footage from the previous two series. These include the Blade Liger's run cycles, the Shield Liger in flashback, as well as the weapons and Zoids used by the Backdraft. *In passing, Leena mentions "Britain", which is an Earth country, not a Zi country. Given that this is just a throwaway line, inferences drawn from it about the people of Zi knowing of Earth are entirely speculative. *This episode references a previous trip to Romeo City, which is where both the Blitz Team and Naomi were headed in episode 7 before both were sidetracked by a criminal gang. *In episode 1, when Bit first saw the Liger Zero, he commented it was "nothing like the Blade Liger", implying that he had some knowledge of the Blade Liger. However, when Bit sees Leon's new Blade Liger for the first time in this episode, he near-immediately says, "What's that?" *Leon states he discovered the Red Blade Liger in a legendary valley "travelled by the greatest Zoid warriors of the past". This is similar to the "Valley of Heroes" mentioned in Zoids: Chaotic Century Episode 31. Although many places from Chaotic Century reappear in New Century, it is tenuous to link these two. The ambiguous origin of the Red Blade Liger has been the subject of much speculation. Category:New Century Episode Category:Zoids Anime